'Mug Hug' - Making Handmade Gifts

I have recently become rather involved in Little Handmade Projects of the gifty variety.  I like handmade.  I love that you can pootle about on the internet and find all manner of inspiration and ideas.  I love that there is such a wealth of good craft books these days, such as this one and this one.  I like finding time to make something special for someone special, someone who I know will appreciate the effort and love that goes into handmade.

I also like the recycling element of it.  Using up scraps of old fabric from tiny toddler dresses and tops that don't fit anymore; finding age old threads and buttons to make pretty things with.  But I also like trips to craft shops to buy the necessary ingredients to make things with too; embroidery floss, pretty textiles, new yarn, unusual buttons...

So, you get the idea that I'm all for handmade making and giving, and with a family birthday looming it was with some excitement that I finally got to make something I'd had my eye on for a while in this book here:

Some of you will be more than familiar with Nikki Trench's book, Cute and Easy Crochet.  I have already started to make that pretty squares blanket, but these little Mug Cosies have been calling me for many moons.

It being Mum's birthday, it seemed like a good idea to make her one of these.  She likes tea, she likes handmade and so I felt I was off to a good start.  What's not to like eh?!!  I'd also seen something in the current edition of Mollie Makes magazine that caught my eye; an advertisement for their next issue featuring this:

Ooooh yes - me likey that!! A little teabag type thingy on the side of the Mug Cosy.  So I thought I would improvise and make my own.  
On looking at the picture and pattern in Nikki's book, I noticed that the cups they had used were straight sided, whereas mine were curved.  I knew I'd have to decrease or add stitches a bit in order for the Mug Cosy to fit nicely, so I ended up making up my own pattern and working from the top down in double crochet and single crochet, with slip stitches in cream to finish.  Would you like to see how it turned out?

I'm really quite happy with it, considering I didn't use the book pattern at all, and it ended up being an Adventure in Crochet as I fumbled my way along and hoped for the best!

To finish off the Mug Cosy (which from this point on I'm calling Mug Hug because it sounds so very warm and huggy which is exactly what it is meant to be and also because it's my own slap-dash pattern and therefore methinks it's ok to re-name it!), I found a little wooden flower button at the very bottom of my button tin!  What luck!  It finished off just nicely!


Next, I found a little piece of creamy muslin and embroidered the message "I 'heart' tea" on it.  I hand sewed the edges and then used daisy stitch to make the teabag string which I just ran up the side of the Mug Hug.


The wool I used for this was one of those bargain buys too - a ball of Sublime cashmerino aran (I used a number 4 hook as opposed to a 5 too, for a tighter finish).  It only cost £1.99 and the cup cost £3.00 from Sainsburys so I reckon that's a bit of a bargain, don't you?!

Anyway, one more bit of hooky news before I go.  You may remember a week or so ago I told you I wanted to give that teeny tiny crochet a crack, the one where you use a really tiny hook, a 1 point something or other and fine crochet thread...well let me tell you I've made a start, I've had a go and boy oh boy do I admire the folks that make ridunculously big scarves using this method.  I have made several circles, it took me forever:

Although I do like them.  Very Much Indeed - and I am thinking that rather than die of overwhelm thinking about making a scarf (thing of dreams at this point in time) I shall perhaps tackle a colourful doily to stand a nice plant on or something.  It's the kind of crochet I've got to be in the mood for, and I've got to have natural daylight to be able to see it well enough as those wee stitches are very tricksy.  So I won't be abandoning my rainbow bliss scarf just yet...oh no, infact I'm hoping that's going to be my next completed project - the chilly weather has prompted me to dig it out and get it finished!


Right - I've a Special Birthday Meal to prepare, so I'm away to the kitchen to be busy!  


See you again soon, thanks for visiting today!


Much love
Julia x x x

Remember that Crocheted Waistcoat...?

it's finished.

In fact, truth be told it was finished a good few weeks ago, but I'd not got around to putting the ties on!  It has been languishing on my chair in crochet corner waiting patiently 'til now.

What do you think?

As it's been such an age since I started this waistcoat project, I cannot remember how much I spent on wool, except to say it was less than the one for sale that originally inspired me to make this one!  I used Rowan Handknit Cotton for it, but if I were to make another one I think I'd pick a slightly lighter yarn.  Cotton is quite sturdy, and I think a more floaty kind of wool would look quite good too.

But here's the thing - the fact is, I probably won't be able to make another.  I tried to write a pattern, and at first it looked as if it were going swimmingly - and I was so excited as I reallly thought I could share it with you.  Then it got tricky...and oh my, tricky like you wouldn't believe.  I spent a while frogging and re-doing bits over and over until they looked right.  Even now, there are parts of it that to my eye look ever so happily wonky and not exactly matching...but hey, it was fun to do.

So, (and I dread you reading this bit) I am very, very (truly) sorry...but I do not have a pattern to share with you after all. Writing all the complicated bits down and reading through it made absolutely no sense to me at all afterwards, and even though I tried writing it out three times, it wasn't convincing me that it was easy enough for folks to understand, and to publish on a blog to share with a squillion people.

Will you forgive me?  


I have to confess that I've had rather a hiatus from crochet of late.  I've been much to busy with other projects and come 8 o'clock I've been too pooped to do much else apart from flop.
And then I read a post over at Coco Rose Diaries about a new magazine, with some rather fabulous crocheted apple covers featured.  You can have a peek into this new magazine here too, it looks really good.  Vanessa's post and this magazine combined got me itching to get hooking again.

I think it was a much needed jolt to remind me to get the mix of business and pleasure balanced evenly.  Despite my attempts at balancing life (as described in my last post), I realised that I was actually still feeling pretty frazzled and worn out which is a major kick up the butt for me to reaaaalllly slow down.  I realised that peaceful creative pursuits must be allowed as well as all this studying, drawing and writing that I'm doing, so I've started to do my yoga again (just gentle bursts of 15-30 minutes each evening) and plan some crochet time too; for me this is such a relaxing thing to do and like reading, it helps me to centre and unwind after a mad day!  My other stuff has now been re-scheduled so that my self imposed (rather tight) deadlines have now been gloriously extended!! Hurrah, sighs of relief and more time for the fun stuff.  Why didn't I just do that in the first place???!!

I want to say Thank You to everyone who left comments on my last post too - it was great to read all your ideas on dealing with overwhelm.  It was also interesting to see how many of us go through the same processes, thank you so much for sharing.


Before I scoot off, I just want to tell you that I am in the process of creating some new card collections for my website, which I'm really excited about.  If you want the heads up on these (that is, an exclusive preview with a nice discount) then all you have to do is sign up for my email newsletter which you can do here!  Just scroll down the page, fill in the form and that's it!!

Sending you love for a happy week, 
Julia x